Notice2025-15959

Notice of Inventory Completion: The University of Tennessee, Department of Anthropology, Knoxville, TN

Primary source

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Published
August 21, 2025

Issuing agencies

Interior DepartmentNational Park Service

Abstract

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Department of Anthropology (UTK), has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 160 (Thursday, August 21, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 160 (Thursday, August 21, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 40847]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-15959]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[N6383; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040683; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: The University of Tennessee, 
Department of Anthropology, Knoxville, TN

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 
Department of Anthropology (UTK), has completed an inventory of human 
remains and associated funerary objects and has determined that there 
is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated 
funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in 
this notice.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after September 22, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains 
and associated funerary objects in this notice to Dr. Ellen Lofaro, 
University of Tennessee, Office of Repatriation, 5723 Middlebrook Pike, 
Knoxville, TN 37996, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#96f8f7f1e6e4f7d6e3e2fdb8f3f2e3"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a7c9c6c0d7d5c6e7d2d3cc89c2c3d2">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the 
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of UTK, 
and additional information on the determinations in this notice, 
including the results of consultation, can be found in its inventory or 
related records. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.

Abstract of Information Available

    Human remains representing, at least, one individual have been 
identified. The five lots of associated funerary objects are 
botanicals; ceramics; faunal; lithics; and objects placed with or near 
human remains. These individuals and objects were recovered from the 
Hamby site, 40CF214, in Coffee County, TN, by Charles Faulkner and 
James E. Cobb in March 1977. This site dates to the Late Middle 
Woodland (late Owl Hollow), post 600 CE. These individuals and objects 
were transferred to UTK after the excavation and retained. To our 
knowledge, no potentially hazardous substances have been used to treat 
any of the Ancestral remains or associated funerary objects.

Cultural Affiliation

    Based on the information available and the results of consultation, 
cultural affiliation is clearly identified by the information available 
about the human remains and associated funerary objects described in 
this notice.

Determinations

    UTK has determined that:
    <bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
    <bullet> The five lots of objects described in this notice are 
reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with or near 
individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of the 
death rite or ceremony.
    <bullet> There is a connection between the human remains and 
associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Alabama-
Coushatta Tribe of Texas; Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee 
Indians; The Chickasaw Nation; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; The 
Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; Thlopthlocco Tribal Town; and the United 
Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the 
authorized representative identified in this notice under ADDRESSES. 
Requests for repatriation may be submitted by:
    1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations identified in this notice.
    2. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian 
organization not identified in this notice who shows, by a 
preponderance of the evidence, that the requestor is a lineal 
descendant or an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with 
cultural affiliation.
    Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
described in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after September 
22, 2025. If competing requests for repatriation are received, UTK must 
determine the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. 
Requests for joint repatriation of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects are considered a single request and not competing 
requests. UTK are responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the 
Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this 
notice.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.

    Dated: July 15, 2025,
Mariah Soriano,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-15959 Filed 8-20-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P


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Indexed from Federal Register on August 21, 2025.

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